Each quarter Meeting to Win leads our subscribers through a business book in the Sales Performance Book Club. Each week’s reading assignment and Discussion Guide are included in the weekly sales team meeting agenda newsletter. To subscribe, visit us at our website www.meetingtowin.com. Enter the promo code Q4PUSH and get weekly agendas free for all of Q4 2009. First payment isn’t due until Jan 2010. Learn more here.
Grab the following book, read a chapter per week as a team and use the Discussion Guide during weekly sales team meetings. Your team will be motivated and inspired by the new ideas and practical advice. Happy Selling from Meeting to Win.
Sales Performance Book Club
Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play
by Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig
Chapter 1
- Chapter 1 lists 5 premises or key beliefs. Do disagree with any of those?
- Which of the key beliefs made you think about your client relationships differently? Why?
Chapter 2
- Each participant should share if and how they will take one of the “No Guessing” challenges.
Chapter 3
- What is different about the way the authors suggest you qualify an opportunity vs. the way you do it today?
- What will you try from this chapter?
Chapter 4
Discussion questions:
- Share thoughts around qualifying the resources of time and people. Does the team do this today? What are the benefits?
Exercise:
- Each participant should practice the “three-part response” (pg. 85) out loud for the group.
Discussion:
- How comfortable is each member of the sales team with executing the “three-part response”?
- What, if anything, will each participant do differently when qualifying resources, time, people and money, moving forward?
- When will each participant expect to have a chance to practice qualifying resources and using the “three-part response”?
Chapter 5
Discussion questions:
- Each participant should share one “take-away” from Chapter 5.
- Are there benefits to understanding the Decision Process as outlined in Chapter 5? Why or why not?
Exercise:
- Take two live deals in the team’s pipeline and fill in the blanks on the Decision Grid on page 98. (There will probably be blanks since this is not in practice yet.)
- What gaps exist in the salesperson’s knowledge of the decision process for each deal?
- How can those salespeople fill in those gaps?
- Each salesperson on the two deals should share specific next steps to complete the Decision Grids for those opportunities.
Chapter 6
Discussion:
- What differences exist between the way each participant prepares and executes the final presentation vs. the way the authors suggest sales professionals should do it?
- How does the authors’ advice apply to the team’s sales process? What would work?
- What specifically will each participant do differently, if anything, after studying this chapter?
Exercise:
- As practice, choose one person with an upcoming presentation to prepare and share their presentation for the team prior to sharing it with the prospective client.
Chapter 7
Discussion:
- For each participant, what opportunities are you currently pursuing? What has been the approach so far?
- After reading this chapter, what will be each participant’s specific next steps in pursuit of the top opportunities?
Exercise:
- Three volunteers should practice for the group an “opening statement” (pg. 195) for an upcoming meeting with a new prospect.
- Group should share feedback and reaction.
Last Words
Discussion:
- Upon completing the book, what does each participant want to do differently after reading Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Playby Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig?
Exercise:
- Please complete the SPI.
- Each person should share their SPI (Sales Progression Index) score.
- Based on the SPI score, each participant should share their next steps on that live deal.
- Did the SPI reveal any surprises for the sales rep?
- Is the SPI exercise a valuable exercise to use to advance deals?
- How can you use it moving forward?
Helping Clients Succeed sales training is based on Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Playby Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig. To learn more and follow their blog, visit ninety five 5 at http://www.nf5.com/default.aspx.
Meeting to Win leads a new Sales Performance Book Club every quarter. These are included on weekly sales team meeting agenda newsletters. To learn more and subscribe, visit Meeting to Win at http://www.meetingtowin.com/.
